Rabbi's Messages

The Great Jewish Outdoors

on Sunday, 26 June 2016.

I don’t think I ever really appreciated summer before moving to Canada.

When you live in a generally warm place, summer is just another warm time. (Or, like in Louisiana, a time of miserable, overbearing heat and humidity!) But Canadians who live through long, cold winters know what it is to love the warmth of summertime. We take to the lakes. We hike and swim. We BBQ. We send our children to camp. If there is sunshine, we feel almost compelled to be outside in it.

It’s a very Jewish way of thinking – to enjoy being outdoors. In fact, for many Jews nature is an incredible source of spirituality and connection with God. Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, the 18th century Chassidic master, wrote this beautiful prayer about finding God in nature:

Grant me the ability to be alone;
may it be my custom to go outdoors each day
among the trees and grass - among all growing things
and there may I be alone, and enter into prayer,
to talk with the One to whom I belong.
May I express there everything in my heart,
and may all the foliage of the field -
all grasses, trees, and plants -
awake at my coming,
to send the powers of their life into the words of my prayer.

If you have ever stood on top of a mountain and been overwhelmed by the beauty of the vista, or looked up at the night sky and marveled at its vastness, or spent time tracing a leaf with its intricate system of veins, you might have a sense of what he was talking about.

Our prayers refer to God as “M’chadesh Ma’asei B’reisheet – the One who renews the cycles of Creation.” Spending time outdoors – whether in the summertime or any time of year – gives us the chance to develop the sense of Radical Amazement that was so central to Hasidic Judaism, and that connects us both with God and with the earth. It says in the Quran, the Muslim holy book: “Wherever you turn, there is the face of God.” I think Rabbi Nachman would have agreed.

In that sense, we get to bring Judaism with us wherever we go this summer – on our cruises, to our cottages, to our summer camps. We get to recognize that there is no better synagogue than the great outdoors.

Over the course of the summer, we will be holding services as Kol Ami – sometimes in the synagogue and sometimes in people’s homes. Dates and locations will be on our calendar. If you are traveling, I encourage you to seek out the Jewish community wherever you go (there are Reform synagogues all over the world – just email me and I’ll connect you!). Or as an alternative, simply take time to look for God in nature.

L’shalom,
Rabbi Micah Streiffer